Brigitte Fassbaender was born on 3 July 1939 in Berlin, the daughter of baritone Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, who gave her early vocal training alongside further study at the Nuremberg Conservatory. She joined the Bavarian State Opera in 1961 and rose to prominence in 1967 as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier in Munich.

Fassbaender became one of the leading mezzo-sopranos and Lieder singers of her generation, performing at the Royal Opera House from 1971 and making her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1974, and holds the title of Kammersängerin at both the Bavarian State Opera and Vienna State Opera. After retiring from singing she became a respected opera director and served as Intendant of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck (1999-2012); she now directs the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.